Plant setter



Aug, 19, 1930. r E'II'CHISON 1,773,452

PLANT SETTER Original Filed Dec. 12, 1927 3 Shets-She'et .1

19,1930. A. ETCHISCN 1,773,452

' PLANT SET'I'EH I Original Filed Dec. 12, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 anew Aug 19, 1930.- 1.. A. E'rcH'lsoN PLANT SETTER Original Filed Dec. 12, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet, 3

v g'VVUx .O't 192241913 22 022,

V I 3%., M5410 wit mass Patented Aug. 19, 1930 :tEw Is A. 'nrorr soiv, oF'oAit A. NORTH oARoLi'rTA- ssimiort, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE v I ASSIGNMENTS,0F$IX-TENTIS To max GJOBBEL m nimises-d mmers 'ro'enAi/in NEELY, Bowl-rot Moo'xsvmLE,NORTH fosnomim -Aimown-TENTH T0.1\T. o.

GRUBBS, 0F FORSYTHE oo'fmtry; NORTI-L CARDliIITA I PLANT simme i efiiei fer abandoned.applicationSerial in. 239,521, filed Da mar-3112,1921, This, aplilieation filed 7 January 24, 1 9 3(5 1 Theinventionrelates to devices for usein setting-(plants in theground, and it is intended .prinmr ilyfor setting tobacco plants; ale

though not restricted to thisparticular' field ofuse.

It isthe principal object of the invention to provide a simple, light and compact, hand;

operated device, in which a plurality of means such as hole-"forming meansQhOle-Watering niea nsland hole-closing means, are selectively operable under the influence of a single op,- erating handle movable in different ways, instead. of'requiring separate handles; as customary. I A hand-operated plunger is used as means foryi orming the plant receiving hole in the earth, and another-oi my objects is to provide novel 1 means whereby movement of this,

plunger may be utilized to operatethe means for closing the hole aroundthe roots of the Y plant received in said hole.

,Yet, another aim is to provide a construcf tion in which the plunger contains water held in check by a valve which valve'inay be opened by movement of said plunger in a pre- 'determined manner, to discharge a desired quantityof waterintothe hole]; v 1 With the foregoingx'andminorobjects in O View, the inventionresides in the novel, sub

jectma-tter hereinafter described and claimed, description beingaccomphshed by reference 1 to the accompanying. drawings;

" F1 is a side'elevation partly broken.

away and in section, showing'the relation of parts which exists when the device is being moved, after setting one p1ant,.to the. point at which the nextvplant is to be set, or when the hole-closing means is to be operated. Fig. 2. 1s aside elevation partly b'roken away and in section showingthe plunger depressedto form a plant-receiving holein 'the earth: I V 1 Fig. 3' is e side elevation partly broken away and iii-"section, at right angles to Fig;

serial Nb. 423.229,

, positions" i I p I Flg. isa vertical longitudinal seetio al v1ew 'w1tl1 theparts related as in'FigQL the relation offpart's which exists when the fwatervalve 1's 1. Fig. Gist a sideelevation pai tly brokeri away and in section; similar tofFigf-l; but

showing the manner in which depression the plunger operates the hole-closing means. 7 is a horizontal "seetionalview'on line 7 7 of Fig.4. I Fig. 8 is a verticalsectiori partly in eleva tron as'indicated by line 8-8 ofFig. Fig. 9 a horizontal sectional view online ,Fi l 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but sh'ow-" I 9% f g.--.5 ,th is View being similar to'Fig. 7 but showlnga' different relative positioningefjparts. I Eig lo is.

portion h water v lv I f Fig. 11 islan enlarged detail vertical see; tiofi on 1ine'11 1'1:of Fig. 3;

, showing av The form of construction selected for illusi.

tration' inthepresent application may be con siderecl aspreferr'ed with the'understanding however that within the scope ofthe lave tioi 'as claimed, variations may be made Tl l The: main body of ti 1e device includes ay 3 base 12 having a-central-opening 13 through whiclrtheplants to be set, may pass, the" upperfend of said opening being internally shouldered and receiving the lower end of a laterally projectingportion 14011 a plant chute 15, the-u per end offsaid portion 14: beiiig'closed ,-by a plate ldwhich projects' outwardly from said portion 114 and is formedwitli an opening 17 vertically alined with the opening 13. ;.Two vertical rods 18 are rigidly secured at their lower ends in i r g e i i y perspective view 51 the operating means for any deslred manner,"to-the base 12, said rods passing through openings inthe plate 16 andv being provided with nuts .19 which tightly hold said plate down-, to' clamp the lateral openings 13-17, saidopening embodying pposed arcuate oifsets 23. The intermediate portions of the side edges of the plate are formed with arcuate notches 24 concentric with the opening 22, for a purpose to appear. a A tubular plunger 25 passes slidably through the openings 22 and 17 and is downwardly projectable from the position of Fig. 1, through the opening 13, for the purpose of forming a plant-receiving hole in the earth, as willbe clear from Fig. 4; The lower end 26 of this plunger and its upper end 27' are preferably formed separately from the main body portion of said plunger, and said end 26 is downwardly tapered and provided with a downwardly facing valve seat 28. A downwardly opening valve 29 is normally seated against the seat 28 and is downwardly pointed. to readily penetrate the earth when the plunger is depressed. A stem 30 rises from the valve 29 within the plunger 25, passes through 'a'stufiing box 31 in the upper end 27 of said plunger, and is provided at its upper end with a cross arm 32 whose ends pass'slidably through slots 33 in said plunger end 27. A coiled compression spring 34 in this plunger-i end 27, 1 normally forces upwardly upon the cross arm 32 to hold the valve 29 closed, so that water may be trapped 7 in the plunger, being supplied thereto through an appropriate hose 25 leading from a water tank 25 which the operator of the plant setter may carry with the aidof an appropriate harness or the like 25.

When the plunger 25 is so positioned that the arms 32 maypass through the offsets 23 of the opening 22 (see Fig. 7), the plunger 25 may be depressed as in Fig. 4, to form a plant-receiving hole in the earth. Then, by turning the plunger so that the ends of the cross arm 32 will underlie portions of the plate 20 as seen in Fig. 9, the valve stem 30 and the valve 29 will be held against ascent, so that slight lifting of the plunger 25 against the action of the spring 34, will effect opening of the valve to discharge water into the newly formed hole.- The valve may be left open for the desired length of time, according to the dryness of the ground and if planting is being done when the ground is damp, the watering features need not be used at all. When it is desired to close the valve 29, the plunger 25 is turned until the'cross for the plunger 25, the ends 36 of this handle being disposed at opposite sides of the plunger and secured to a collar 37 which is fixed to said plunger, said ends 36 being also preferably connected with the upper end of the plunger 25, by a transverse pin 38. These handle ends 36 pass through the notches 24 and limit turning of the plunger in either direct-ion. vVhen these handle ends are in contact with one end of the notches 24, there is no possibility of the cross arm 32 catching on the corresponding end of the ofi'sets 23, upon depression of the plunger, but should the plunger and handle be turned to a suflicient extent toward the other end of the notches '24, said cross arm 32 might catch upon the adjacent ends of said offsets 23. To prevent this, I preferably bevel the ends of the cross arm 32, as shown most clearly at 39 in Figs. 8 and 10.

Radially movable hole-closers 40 are provided for closing the hole formed in the earth, after the plant has been deposited therein.

These closers are of spade-like form, with plates 41 for preventing up-throw of the earth, and they are carried by vertical, resilient 'arms 42, the upper ends of these arms being secured to clamps 43, which are securedupon the rods 18. The lower ends of the a ms 42 are received in radial recesses 44 in the periphery of the base 12, and operating levers 45 bearing against the outer sides of said arms, are fulcrumed near their lower ends in these recesses, while the upper ends of said levers diverge from the arms 42. These upper ends of the levers 45 are pivoted at 46 to the lower ends of resilient thrust rods 47 which steeply incline toward the plunger 25 and are secured at their upper ends to'slides 48 mounted onthe rods 18 above the'clamps 43, coiled springs 49 being preferably interposed between said slides and clamps. The slides 48 are rigidly connected with each other by a plate 50 constituting a main operating member for the hole-closers 40, in that depression of this plate causes depression of the thrust rods 47, outward swinging of the upper ends of the levers 45 as in Fig. 6, inward movement of the lower ends of said levers, and consequent inward'movement of the hole-closers 40 to operative position, as also seen in Fig. 6.

The plate 50 is formed with a central opening 51 through which the plunger 25 passes slidably, and co-acting means are provided on said plate and plunger for connecting them, so that depression of said plunger may be utilized to depress the plate 50 for the purpose of actuating the hole-closers 40. In the present disclosure, the collar 37 is provided with outstanding lugs 52 and the lower side of the plate 50 is equipped with L-shaped lugs 53. When plunger 25 is in its maximum raised position, as in Fig. 1, turning of said plunger by means of its handle 35,

will engage the lugs 52 with the -lugsc53 -,"thus establishing an operating connection between theplunger 25 and the plate." 50,..so that upon depressionoi the handle 35, said platew'ill be depressed to operate the hole-closers :40.

When this is done, .thepartsassume therelationshown in Fig. 6,,from1 which view it will be seen that'the thrust devices l'i-spring out-f wardly, arms. 42 spring inwardly. and the springsQ. are cmpressed,so that these com-' bined'resilient actions will act in again returnlng the parts to' the hole-closing means and its operating mechanism, to normal pos1- tion when the device is lifted by handle .35.

The general operation of thedevice is as follows: Assuming; that the various parts stand asv shown in Figs; 1 and 3, the device is carried .to the point at which a plant is to besetfandthen by downwardlymoving the entire device, the hole-closers l0 are causedto penetrate the earth to the limitdic:

tatedby foot plates l2 with which the base 12 may be provided if desired. v By novv'turn-a ing the handle slightly,ithe lugs 52 are dis-' engaged from "the lugs 53. The plunger 25 mayinowbe downwardly forced by means of I this handle, so that it passes through the opening 13 and penetrates the earth to, form a plant-receiving hole, as will be clear from Fig. 4:. N ow, if it 1s deemed to discharge a quantity of'waterinto this hole, the handle 35 is manipulated to rotate plunger. 25-suiii ciently to dispose the cross arm 32 under portions of theplate20 as seen in Fig. 9, whereupon a slight upward pull upon .thehandle while holding. the body ofthedevice down with the foot plates 12-, will efiect opening ofthe valve29 as shown in Fig. 5, allowing j discharge of water from the tubular plunger.

hen the desired amount of :waterhas been fed to the ,hole, turning of the handle 35 so that the cross arm :32 is receivable inlthe offset 23, will immediately efiect closing of the valve 29. Then, the plunger 25 is raised bymeansof the handle '35, the lugs 52 53 are inter-engaged with. each other, and a plant is dropped down the chute 15, into the hole. This having beendone, handle35 is again depressed and as the plunger 25 is then connected with the plate 50 by means of'the lugs 52.53 still inengagement witheach other, inreadinessto actas before.

It Willbe seen fromsthe foregoing that" scope' of theinvention as maybemade.

means "closing means.

uniqueprovision has been made for carrying outthe objects of theinvention and attention is .againinvited to thewfactthat within the claimed, variations I v .270

1. In a plant'setter,

meansand holerclosingmeans carried by said I body, andoperatingmeans embodying a sin gleshandle operable in" two ways, to actuat said hole-forming .means: and said hole-'clos ing means respectively;-

. .2.-linyaplantsetter, a body, hole-forming and"iholerclosingumeans both mounted for"; 'movementwith respect to said. body, and -actuating means for: both of the aforesaid 'means,' lsaid actuating meanshaving a com monrhandlemounted for; movement in two ways with respectitoisaidbody, saidoper'at ing means having portionsfor utilizing one movement ofsaid hand-le for operating said hole-:forining'means andthe oth'ermoveinent a of said handle fora'ctua'ting. said holerclosinig means. I

3. In a plant-setter, a body,

and; water-releasing .means. --botli mounted for movement with respect to-said body, and actuating means for both of the, I

aforesaid means, saidfactuating, means hav ing acommonhandle mounted for, movement in two ways with respect tosaidbody sard operating "means having portions for utiliZ- ing onemovement of saidihandlefor actuate ing said hole-forming means, and the other movementof said handle for actuating said water-releasing means. I

In a plant setter, a body,ihole-f0rmi1ig means, "water -releasing means and hole-clos- 111g means vallmounted for movement with respect .to said body, jand'actuat ng means a for all of the aforesaid means, said mam:

ing means having a common handle mounted for movement in three ways with respect to said body, said operatingmeans havingipor tionsp-for utilizing one movement, of said handle forfiactuating -said 'hole forming means, for utilizing another movement of said handle for actuating said water-releas ing means and for utilizing the third movement of said handle. for actuatingsaid hole 5. A plantsetter comprising a body he ing an 1 opening, a hand-depressed plunger slidably carried by; said body and movable' through said opening to-form a plant-receivmg. hole 1n the earth, hole-closing means mountedon said body, operating 'means for.

said=hole-closing means, and means for operatively, connectingfsaid operating means with said plungerto be actuated by the latter.

6. A plant setter comprising a body having' an opening, 52a vhanddepressed1=plunger slidably carriedbysaid body and movable through said opening to form a plant-re ceiving holeinthe earth, hole closing means:

mounted on said body, operating means for said hole-closing meansembodymg a main operating member. near said plunger, and mounted for vertlcal movement, and means for connecting said plunger with said member, whereby the former may be utilized to actuate the latter.

1 7 A plant setter comprising a body having an opening, a hand-depressed plunger slidably carried by said body and movable through said opening to form a plant-receiving hole in the earth, hole-closing means mounted on said-body, operating means for said hole-closing means embodying a main operating member near said plunger and mounted for vertical movement, and means operable upon rotation of said plungerfor' thrust members connected at their lower ends with said levers for so moving them, an operating member through which the plunger is slidable, said operating member being connected to the upper ends of said thrust devices for downwardly movingthem to actuate said levers, and means for connecting said member with said plunger, whereby the latter may be utilized to actuate said member. I

9;A plant setter comprising a base having an opening, a plunger slid-able through said opening to form a plant-receiving hole in the earth, rods rising rigidly from said base, radially movable hole-closers at ithe lower side of saidbase having carrying arms to said rods, levers fulcrumed on the base for inwardly forcing said hole-closers when the upper ends of said levers are moved outwardly, vertically disposed thrust members connected at theirlower ends with said levers for so moving them, an operating member through which said plunger is slidable, said operating member being connected to the up per ends of said thrust devices,-and means operable upon rotationof saidplunger for connecting the latter with said member, whereby said plunger may be utilized to downwardly force said member and said thrust devices to actuate said levers.

10. A plant setter comprising a bodv. a

' water-containing plunger carried slidably by said body for forminga plant-receifing hole in the earth, said plunger having awater d scharge orifice' at-its lower end and a valvefor normally preventing discharge of water through said orifice, and means operable by predetermined movement of said plunger with respect to said body for opening said valve. 7 I

11. A plant setter comprising a body, a water-containing plunger carried slidably by said body for forming a plant-receiving hole of co-operable relation.

13. A plant setter comprising a base having an opening, a water-containing plunger projectable through said opening to form a plantreceiving hole in the earth, said plunger having a'water discharge "orifice at its lower end, a downwardly opening valve normally preventing discharge of water through said orifice, a stem rising from said valve and having an actuator extending laterally beyond the plunger, a rod rising rigidly from said base, and a member carried by said rod capable of striking said actuator upon ascent of said plunger, to effect valve opening.

14:. A structure as specified in claim 13,;

said plunger being rotatable to bring said member and said projection either into or out of co-operable relation with each other.

15. A plant setter comprising a base having an opening and a plant chute leading thereto, a water-containing plunger slidable through said opening for forming a plantreceiving hole in the earth, said plunger having a water discharge orifice at its lower end and a downwardly opening valve normally yin-eventing discharge of water through said orifice, a valve-opening device at the periphcry or" said plunger and operatively connected with said valve for opening the latter when said device is held and the plunger raised, hole closers carried by the base in outwardly spaced relation with said opening, rods rising rigidly from the aforesaid base, a plate carried rigidly by the upper ends of said rods and having an opening through which said plunger and said valve-opening device are slidable, said plate having a portion to hold said device against ascent when the plunger is rotated to engage said device with said plate portion, a member slidable on said rods, operating connections between said member and said hole closers for operating the latter upon vertical movement of said member, and means operable by rotation of said plunger for connecting it with said member, whereby vertical movement of saidplunger may be utilized to operate'said member.

16. In a plant setter, abase having an opening through which a plant may pass, a plant chute having. a lateral enlargement at its lower end registering with the upper end of said opening, a plate closingthe upper end of said enlargement and having an 013611 ng allned with the aforesaid opening, t

plate, base and enlargement'being secured against relative movement, and a plunger slidable in the opening of said plateand'projectablethrough the opening of said base to form a, plant-receiving hole in the earth.

' 17. Inaplantsetter,a body, a radially movable, hole closer carried by said body, a-lever fulcrumed on said body for operating said closer when the upper end of said lever is moved outwardly, a resilient thrust device pivoted at its lower end to the upper end of said lever and inclined inwardly therefrom,

a downwardly movable member to which the upper end of said thrust device is secured, and

means for vertically guiding said member.

18. In a plant setter, a body, a tubular water-containing plunger slidably mounted on said body, a pointed hole former on the movable member upon predetermined turnlngof said plunger.

21. In a plant setter, a tubular handle r equipped water-containing plunger, a pointed hole former on the lower end of said plung 5 er having a water discharge port, an upwardly closing water-releasing valve for said j port. havinga pointed lower end at the eX- treme point of said hole, former and co-operable with the latter in the-hole-forming operation, and means rising from said valve. for eflecting opening thereof after the hole-" .t'ormingoperations In testimony whereof I have hereuntd affixed my signature,

Y LEWIS A; ETQI-IISON.

lower end of said plunger, said plungerbeing provided with an operating handle bymeans of which it maybe slid and turned, hole-closing means movably mounted on said body and operating means for said hole-closingmeans embodying a verticallymovable member ad jacent the plunger and means on said plunger for connecting the latter with said vertiturning of said plunger. I

19. In a plant setter, a body, a tubular water-containing plunger slidably mounted on said body, a pointed hole former on the lower end of said plunger providedwith a water-releasing valve, a handle secured to the cally movable member upon predetermined turning the same, opening means for said valve embodying cooperable parts on said plunger and said body adapted to open the valve upon ascent of the plunger after the hole-forming operation, hole-closing means movably mounted on said body, and operating means for said hole-closing means embodying a vertically movable member adjacent the plunger and means on said plunger for connecting the latter with said vertically 

